SACRAMENTO, May 14 (UPI) -- California is completing new regulations aimed at ensuring patients get to see doctors in a reasonable time after making the first call, officials say.
The state would set time limits based on doctors' specialties and the seriousness of patients' conditions, the Sacramento Bee reported. California would be the first state in the country to adopt timely access regulations for health maintenance organizations and similar care providers.
One survey found that the average wait across the country to see a doctor is 20 days.
The regulations have been a long time in gestation. The state Legislature adopted a timely access law for HMOs in 2002, requiring regulations to be in place by 2004.
If everything keeps on track, the rules are now expected to take effect by the end of 2009. Some medical groups argue that HMOs need a year to prepare to implement the change.
"We should no longer be debating the wisdom of timely access," said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, which lobbied for the original law.
